The e-bike, how well do they really work?

Discussion in 'Eco Talk' started by MGW, Jun 4, 2021.

  1. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    I did live in North Wales, right on English boarder, and used my bike on old railways, and canal tow paths, both rather level, and wife got an e-bike, I found with the 16 MPH limit on assistance my standard road bike was as fast if not faster than her e-bike, the gearing on e-bike would not let you exceed 16 MPH just could not turn legs that fast, the standard bike gearing allowed 20 MPH.

    It did help her, but I could keep up with her so never bothered with e-bike for myself.

    Moved to Mid Wales, and also hit 70 so having problems getting licence renewed. And the hills are steeper.

    So seemed time I got an e-bike, however bike rack good for 40 kg and e-bike between 22 and 26 kg, so should not put two on the bike rack, also a security problem, so seemed to be prudent to have a folding e-bike so it will fit in the boot of most cars.

    This also resulted in the wheel motor rather than mid motor, so motor not helped by gears, actually I have found in some ways better as if I miss judge the gear required does not matter so much.

    But as said hills are steeper so uses more battery, in spite of having an EV charging point at work, can't use it, seems an e-bike is not an electric vehicle? So the range matters, no option to charge up while out.

    However the gearing and speed limits seem to be the big problem. The A458 is a fast road with hills and bends, so the fasted on goes the safer one is as traffic does not need to brake as hard when they see you. At 30 MPH it would be quite good, but without electric assistance down to 4 MPH in parts, but also up to around 25 MPH going down the hills, biggest worry is Armaco barriers, being trapped between one of those and a vehicle not what I want a hedge of fence is bad enough.

    So with the e-bike doing between 10 MPH and 15 MPH, local train has 15 MPH speed limit but still faster, pre-colvid I would put bike on train, since colvid Welshpool station is closed, so can on some days go to Welshpool on the train, but can't get off the train so rather pointless.

    So Welshpool is 8 miles, but with the gradient can do 16 miles, but little left in reserve. As to Newtown forget going over the top, even with e-bike the hills are too steep. So would be vie Welshpool, not too bad as canal tow path for some of the way, but over the range of the e-bike.

    I am sure once DVLA get their act into gear and I get my licence I will use the e-bike a lot, but it may get me out and get some exercise, but as a method to get into town, too dangerous and slow. And can't find a single recharging point.
     
  2. Jimbo

    Jimbo Screwfix Select

    ive seen bikes with up to 800w which should be enough for any bill, however the speed limits are set by legislation. “Off road” kits are available but obviously you run the risk of being pulled over and fined for no insurance etc as it’s then classified as a motorbike.
     
  3. Wayners

    Wayners Screwfix Select

    bafang mid drive or front wheel drive are good I was told and avoid derailleur type bikes as they can't take the strain. You want the hub gear type.
    Know a guy with 250w so legal and goes 40 plus miles no problem on the road.
     
  4. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    upload_2021-6-4_9-54-41.png This is the recharging curve after going to local shops this morning. Less than a mile, much depends where you live, not seen a policeman in the village in last 2 years, sure they must visit, but a over sized electric bike is unlikely to be a problem, there are farm quad bikes everywhere without number plates, so police seem to turn a blind eye here.

    But where there is a problem due to speeding e-bikes likely the police will be more vigilant. In the Ellesmere Port boat museum they have examples of tugs designed to replace horses before engines were fitted in boats, so motorised transport must be allowed on the tow path, but it would have been limited to 4 MPH I think that's the speed limit for a narrow boat.

    I have seen a canal boat have to get out a battery angle grinder to remove motor cycle stopping angled bars, which clearly should not have been there as could not get a horse through them. But clearly there must have been problems with motor bikes.

    Looking at a 250 watt and 350 watt motor very little in them, and the law says no more than 250 watt continuous so likely you could not get more than 250 watt continuous from a 350 watt motor. But the 1000 watt you can tell at a glance they are over the 250 watt limit.

    Even a 350 watt will likely get you to around 25 MPH without pedalling on a flat road. The rules allow thumb or twist grip up to 4 MPH, after that only pedal assist up to 16 MPH, however it seems the controllers have three options in their hidden menu, assist only, throttle only, or throttle and assist. So there is not the option to set as it is called walk assist to 4 MPH, with a 0 - 5 assistant selection selecting 1 will give around 4 MPH, but the law wants the assist options to not be used selectable. So even if the law allows walk assist to 4 MPH and pedal assist to 16 MPH the controllers don't seem to give one that option.

    It seems very few e-bikes are strictly legal, I thought my wife's bike was street legal, but it does not have the VIN plate required, it does tick all the boxes, 16 MPH pedal assist only etc, but still not strictly legal.

    So if you want 25 MPH and no pedalling it is going to be clear to any policeman your not pedalling. And if 16 MPH pedal assist is good enough, the big question on the flat why bother?
     
  5. Hans_25

    Hans_25 Screwfix Select

    I'm a cyclist (lyrca clad MAMIL) and haven't looked into ebikes at all, but as far as I know you need to pay quite a hefty amount of coin for a decent ebike for them to be worth it. I have a mate who works in an electric bike shop here down south (E-Bikeshop.co.uk | The UK's Largest Electric Bike Supplier). May be give them a call? Mates name is Jeremy Ray for what its worth. Mind you the cheapest electric road bike they have is over £2k, I did say you need a wad of coin.
     
  6. WhiteRabbit

    WhiteRabbit New Member

    I was out with a mate the other day and he swears by his now, he was definitely having an easier time than I was :D He does repairs himself and often trades them for less than 1k second hand so you might want to drop him a line at http://bike.repairsbrighton.com/ if you're looking for soemthing a bit cheaper.
     

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